Description
This Vegan Chai Spice Cake is soft and tender, filled with warming chai spice and topped with a spiced cream cheese frosting. It’s an easy, single layer cake, with no eggs and no dairy.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 1/2 cups (190g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 cup (240ml) almond milk (minus 1 tablespoon)
- 3/4 cup (170g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup (80ml) olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 4 ounces (113g) plant-based cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted plant-based butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (180g) powdered sugar (plus more, if necessary)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom and sides with overhanging parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- To make the vegan buttermilk, add the vinegar to a measuring cup. Pour in enough almond milk to reach 1 cup. Stir together and let sit for 5 minutes.
- To a large bowl, add the buttermilk, brown sugar, oil and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and gently whisk until just combined. Don’t over mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap the pan lightly on the counter to remove some of the air bubbles.
- Bake for 23-25 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
- To make the frosting, use an electric mixer to cream together the cream cheese and butter. Add the powdered sugar and spices and beat until smooth and creamy. (Add more powdered sugar if you prefer a sweeter and thicker frosting).
- Spread the frosting onto the cooled cake. Slice and serve.
Notes
- This recipe was updated in October 2025 with changes to the cake ingredients and a different frosting. If you are looking for the older recipe, please reach out and I will email you a copy.
- For the best results, I recommend weighing your flour. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, be sure to use the spoon and level method when measuring your flour. Too much flour will create a dry and dense cake.
- Don’t worry if the batter looks a bit lumpy. If you over mix, the batter will be too thin and the cake may sink in the middle and have a dense texture.
- For the plant-based cream cheese, some brands can make frosting a bit runny, so just make sure the brand you’re using has a similar texture to regular brick cream cheese.
- For the plant-based butter, use sticks of butter that are good for baking and not the spreadable kind.
- In my experience, plant-based butters and cream cheeses don’t usually need as much time to soften at room temperature compared to dairy versions.
